


believe it beloved

by atlantisairlock



Category: MythBusters RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Roommates/Housemates, Competition, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Injury, M/M, Male Friendship, Male-Female Friendship, Robots, Stupidity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-29
Updated: 2016-04-29
Packaged: 2018-06-05 06:19:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6692935
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/atlantisairlock/pseuds/atlantisairlock
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When two battlebot-building teams from San Francisco, California tie in the selection round for Beyond Enterprises' 44th Interstate Youth Battlebot Championships, the decision is made to send both teams to the finals in Boston, Massachusetts.</p><p>Jamie, five-time participant and two-time winner of the championship, takes an instant dislike to loud, pushy Adam, first-time participant with just over a year's experience in the battlebot scene but possessing the attitude of a pro.</p><p>They agree to stay out of each other's way for the two weeks they are in Boston, but in an unfortunate turn of events, the pair are forced to be roommates for the course of the competition.</p><p>Unsurprisingly, drama and chaos follows.</p>
            </blockquote>





	believe it beloved

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Toft](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toft/gifts).



> this is specially for toft, who's inspired me with their brilliant mythbusters fics and is 90% the reason why i wrote this one.
> 
> they're all 18, except robert & eric, who are in their early thirties since they're the teachers in charge.
> 
> the teams are divided based on their allegiances in "elevator of death, levitation machine" when team savage & hyneman's heroes compete to build the best hovercraft. grant replaces christine. team savage is named for... team savage. team helios is named for its phonetic similarity to 'heroes'.
> 
> team savage's battlebot is named buster for everyone's favourite crash test dummy. team helios' battlebot is named sparky for the robot used in "trailblazers". 
> 
> north bay high (adam's school) is named for the fact that the series takes place in norcal & around the sf bay area. 
> 
> artarmon high (jamie's school) is named for the place where the series is edited. 
> 
> rees-joseph high (the host school) is named for peter rees, the series' creator, and heather joseph-witham, the series' resident folklorist.
> 
> the various other schools that team helios face off in the knockout rounds are named for the various guest helpers on the show.
> 
> title from 'believe it beloved' by fats waller.

**BEFORE.**

"And now, from San Francisco, advancing into the championships..." 

Jamie, Kari and Scottie hold their breath. Like every championship before this, Beyond is only going to select  _one_ representative from each state to participate, and they've been here five times now, but every time, the tension is palpable, and Jamie feels like his heart is going to leap out of his chest.

"... from Artarmon High, Team Helios!" 

And they've been here five times now, but every time they've made it through to the championships, the relief and delight and triumph just  _floods_ through Jamie like nothing else. He's already turning to Kari and Scottie to give them high fives, when the announcer continues.

"And also from San Francisco, from North Bay High, Team Savage!"

There's a pause. Jamie's jaw drops. "Wait, _what?"_

 

\---

 

Jamie spends most of the flight complaining.

"I just don't believe it. We  _tied?_ We tied with some arrogant, amateur hotshot who decided to get into battlebots for  _fun?_ Kari! Scottie! We've won the championship  _twice_ and we didn't manage to outscore this - this newbie who's never even been ranked on a state level!" 

Kari doesn't even bother looking away from the in-flight entertainment system to reply. "Jamie, Mr Lee signed our consent forms, Sparky is sitting in a suitcase in the cargo hold, we're halfway through our flight to Boston and Adam Savage is sitting in the seat in the row beside ours, snoring with his mouth open. I think you had better start believing it."

 

 

By the time they fly into the airport, Jamie's worn off most of his irritation, only for it to return threefold when his suitcases take half an hour to come off the belt and the coach shuttling the competitors to Rees-Joseph breaks down on the last leg of the journey. All thirty students flying in from California, Nevada and Arizona end up sitting at the side of the road waiting for the next coach to chug along in an hour's time. Jamie's tired, hungry and on edge - something Adam obviously doesn't share, because he spends the hour cracking an endless array of jokes and poking fun at the championship. This elicits laughs from everyone, even complete strangers, even Mr Lee. Jamie can't help but shoot their teacher in charge a scowl. This is a  _competition -_ they've already brought glory to Artarmon twice, and Jamie intends on taking that legacy seriously and making sure they do it again. The championship isn't a game, and Adam seems to think it is. 

When their replacement coach finally pulls up, Jamie has decided he really, really doesn't like Adam. 

 

 

Because of the whole thing with the coach and the delay at the airport, they're the last batch of students to have arrived at Rees-Joseph. This means everyone's already polished off the welcome buffet and they're all rushed into the hall to receive the opening speech with one miserable sandwich to nibble on. This does absolutely nothing to improve Jamie's mood. 

He has to admit, the speech galvanises him. Somehow, having heard just about the same thing five times doesn't change the fact that he gets excited and inspired whenever the guest of honour talks about the spirit of teamwork and friendly competition and creativity. From the rapt attention that Kari and Scottie are paying, it's obvious that they feel the same way. 

As the Beyond representative begins to read out the rules of the competition, Jamie sits up a little bit straighter. To hell with Adam Savage, and the preliminary selections. Only one team is going to bring home this year's challenge trophy, and he'll be damned if it isn't Team Helios.

 

 

The introductory speech takes about an hour, longer than Jamie remembers - there are new features this year to make the championship more accessible to the general public, and to make it more educational for everyone involved. Kari's excited about the prospect of attending talks by veterans in the battlebot scene, and Scottie's downright thrilled at the idea of being able to show Sparky off to adoring elementary school children at the pre-finals showcase. When it ends, the sun's set and everyone's shuttled to the massive cafeteria for dinner. Jamie's just gotten his meal off the line and is heading to where Kari and Scottie are sitting when he feels a hand on his shoulder and does a quick turn. 

It's Adam. Jamie feels his mouth twisting into a grimace. What does he  _want?_ If Adam notices Jamie's change in expression, he doesn't acknowledge it - he just grins cockily and extends a hand. "Hi! Jamie Hyneman, right? From Team Helios? The team we tied with at the prelims? I'm Adam Savage. Team Savage, representing North Bay High, under the charge of Mr Eric Haven."

Against his will, Jamie gives Adam's hand a quick shake and drops it. "Hi," he replies shortly, unwilling to let the conversation continue any further. 

Adam seems incapable of reading the cue, and carries on speaking. "It's cool to finally meet you. I read about your team's victory in the papers about two years back, and you know, I've been messing around with robots since I was a kid, so I thought I might give the comps a go, play in the big leagues, maybe try and beat you."

Jamie gapes, left speechless in sheer amazement. It takes him a couple seconds to find his voice again. "Listen, this isn't a game. I don't appreciate any insinuations that it is. Kari, Scottie and I have been putting our best foot forward since we were in middle school in our efforts to  _win._ We're not here to 'mess around', like you seem to be doing. I've only got this year and the next to carry on the legacy of procuring the championship, and I don't intend to lose it to someone who's here to have a spot of fun."

When Jamie finishes his speech, he sees Adam's eyes narrow minutely. "Okay, yeah, hey. Grant, Tory and I are all newbies who, yes, spent our childhoods just horsing around with robots, but that doesn't mean we're playing around now that we're actually in the competition. If I remember correctly, we did so well that we tied with you in the prelims, and we tied so closely that the organisers decided the  _only_ thing they could do was to send  _both_ our teams to Boston. I'm here and I intend to enjoy it, but I'm here to win, too, just like you. And I'm willing to bet that I will, and you won't."

"Put your money where your mouth is, Savage," Jamie answers, curt and clipped. "Just stay out of my way, and I'll see you in the ring." 

"Gladly," Adam shoots back, and they part ways.

 

 

The encounter with Adam leaves Jamie with a sour taste in his mouth, and dinner ends up tasting bland and unappetising. Scottie prods him in the shoulder and tells him to lighten up. "We've been doing pretty damn well, Jamie. Don't let Adam get to you." 

Kari, ever the peacemaker, pops her last fry into her mouth and smiles. "And remember what Beyond told us - it's not  _just_ about winning. I'd like us to win again, for Artarmon and San Francisco and California, but we've lost before, and it's always been rewarding nevertheless. Promise me you won't forget that's the core of the competition, all right?" 

"All right," Jamie mumbles, finishing off his yogurt. He still wants to kick Adam to the wayside, though.  

 

 

"Teams from California, Nevada and Arizona, please report to the Boarding Office to receive roommate assignations."

"Oh, that's us!" Scottie chirps, tossing her empty milk carton into the bin. "Come on, let's go. I hope we get Block C again - that has the biggest rooms and the nicest view." 

"That's just like you, to remember something like that from four years ago," Kari laughs, linking arms with her. "We probably _will_ get a room there, though - Block C's the only block with rooms that can fit teams of three." 

So it's a surprise, then, when the receptionist at the front desk hands them all black keycards with the Rees-Joseph crest on the front and the words BLOCK A are printed under the crest. Kari flips it around, frowning. "I'm sorry, ma'am - I think there's a mistake? We're a team of three - we should be in Block C, shouldn't we?"

"No, dear, we're splitting you up this time, since there aren't enough rooms in Block C. Since there are six students from San Francisco, we've slotted you into three different rooms." 

Jamie stares into the receptionist's kind face and feels a chill go down his spine. He flips his card -  _Room 2-82._ "Kari. Scottie. What room are you guys in?" 

"2-77," Kari answers, and Scottie echoes her. "What's yours?"

"2-82," Jamie says, crossing his fingers. 

It doesn't work. From across the room, Adam looks up from the sofa he's perched on and grins smugly. "Room 2-82?"

 _Don't say it,_ Jamie groans inwardly.

"Hi, roommate!"

Jamie sighs.  _He said it._

 

 

Lights-out is always at eleven on first night, half an hour later than normal, so the students can unpack and get used to their rooms and roommates. Jamie thinks half an hour definitely won't be enough to get used to Adam, or even two weeks. 

At least the room is rather spacious, with an attached bathroom and a nice view out into the courtyard. It's right beside the elevators and the vending machines, and Kari and Scottie's room is opposite theirs. Apparently Adam's teammates, Grant and Tory, have the room right next to 2-82. Even before he unpacks his clothes, Adam's tapping on the adjacent wall in morse code. From the other side, his teammates tap back.

Jamie says a brief prayer for patience and meticulously begins setting up some toiletries in the bathroom. Two weeks. It's just two weeks. He can handle Adam for two weeks, if it means winning the championship for the third time running. Maybe the more he says it, the truer it'll get. 

 

 

Six hours to the moment Jamie and Adam move into their dorm, Jamie is seriously considering killing him. 

Adam: 

  * doesn't fold his clothes or hang them up on the rack.
  * forgoes normal modes of communication with his teammates in favour of morse code through the thin walls. 
  * apparently doesn't possess any knowledge of what a comb does, or is meant to do.
  * plays rock music at 1 AM while sketching out a new battlebot prototype. 
  * brushes his teeth like he's the Hulk, ruining his toothbrushes in the process. 
  * drinks decaf. 
  * thinks combustion engines are cool and should be allowed in the competition. 
  * plays Candy Crush. 
  * _he plays Candy Crush._
  * _and Candy Crush Soda._
  * _and he doesn't turn off the sound effects._



The teams aren't allowed to make any modifications to their battlebots until they've made it through the knockout rounds and are confirmed finalists, but Jamie's already planning out new additions to Sparky and there's no way he can concentrate if he's in the same room as Adam all day long. 

He's not going to make it through two weeks. 

 

 

Day 2 begins with a series of optional talks and single-day workshops that the participants can attend at their own leisure. Jamie slips into the metalwork seminar with Kari, feeling exhausted. He gets straight to the point once they're seated and the guest speaker begins addressing the crowd. "Kari, Team Helios is going to get sent home at the first knockout round if I have to work in my dorm room."

Kari leans across and speaks out of the side of her mouth. "Is he that bad?"

"He plays Candy Crush with the sound effects on!" She winces in response and makes a sympathetic noise. "I need to find somewhere else to work, stat."

"You could always try the common rooms."

"Already looked into that. They're already being monopolised by the other teams, not to mention that three-quarters of the campus is out of bounds to competitors, and the door to the roof is locked. What am I supposed to do, I ask you?"

She thinks hard, then beams. "Jamie! You can just work in our room. It'll be a bit cramped, but if it's better than staying in the same room as Adam..."

He didn't even consider that idea. It sounds great, and he'll even be able to bounce ideas off his teammates. "I'll take it," Jamie says immediately. 

"Great! We'll just leave the door unlatched when we're in the room so you can come in without a keycard." Kari smiles. "Now let's listen to this lady talk about welding." 

 

 

That night, Adam starts singing along to Bon Jovi, badly. Jamie grabs his laptop and notebook and leaves the room. The door to 2-77 is slightly ajar - good. Jamie feels satisfied; now he can work in peace.

He walks right into the room to see Scottie pinned to the bed beneath Kari, both of them making out. 

"Jesus Christ," Jamie says, quite nearly dropping everything in his arms. Scottie looks up and scrambles into a sitting position, cheeks flushed and eyes bright. "Oh, hi Jamie." 

Jamie groans. "Come on! An open invitation to work in your room didn't come with seeing my best friends going at it!"

The girls exchange looks, but neither seems very apologetic. Jamie rolls his eyes. "Never mind. I'll work somewhere else." He turns on his heel, and Kari gets up to shut the door behind him. Jamie winks at her right before he leaves, keeping his voice low. "Oh, and good job on finally making a move." 

Kari goes scarlet. _"B_ _ye,_ Jamie," she says, but she's smiling as she closes the door. 

Well. Happy as he is for his friends, it looks like he's back to square one. Jamie suppresses a loud sigh. Back to his dorm room it is. 

 

 

The knockout rounds commence on Day 3. Even Adam wants to be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the first day, so he turns in early and Jamie gets a good night's rest. At breakfast, a Beyond representative hands them a sheet of paper informing them of the teams they're competing against, and the times and venues of their knockouts. 

"There's E Gates High, Normandy Institute, Vendera High, the Schwenke school..." Scottie turns the sheet over and reads off all the team names. "Oh, we're not competing against the Californian teams."

"What?" Jamie exclaims. "We're not going up against Team Savage?"

"Apparently not."

He frowns. "Damn. I wanted to see their battlebot. Then we'd be better equipped to destroy them." 

Jamie sounds so grim that Kari laughs, slapping him lightly on the back. "Hey, cool down. You never know. Whoever they're going up against might trash them, and then we're good to go." 

The idea of some other team kicking Adam out of the competition before Jamie has the chance to makes him feel even more dissatisfied. 

 

 

The knockouts go well - Team Helios wins all their matches and racks up a perfect score for the first day. By dinner, Jamie's fairly confident they'll make it to the finals. He's in a good mood all the way to his room, in which he sees Adam rolling around on his chair and whistling while jabbing at what looks like a console. Adam notices his entrance, hits pause, and waves. "Hynie! How were your knockouts? We won all of ours! It's a shame we won't be competing against each other, though. That would've been cool."

Jamie grunts, feeling his contentment slipping away. "Congratulations," he bites off the word. "Now, if you don't mind, I have work to do, so I'd appreciate if you didn't keep bleeping around with your little toy." 

Adam's jaw drops and he stops spinning around, looking affronted. "It's not a  _toy -_ it's Buster's remote firing mechanism."

"Buster's  _what?"_

"Remote firing mechanism," Adam repeats proudly. "It's not allowed in the championship, of course, so we're not using it - but Buster has the capacity to fire centerfire ammo if he's loaded. It doesn't interfere with any of the other mechanisms. It's just there, if we want to use it. Tory and Grant fixed up a separate remote control so that if we were ever using the mechanism in the ring, we wouldn't accidentally shoot one of the judges in the face when we hit the firing button thinking that we were just upping Buster's speed."

For the first time, Jamie's interest is piqued. That's new - he's never heard of a battlebot that can fire actual bullets as part of an offence strategy. Adam obviously notices, because his face lights up and he holds out the control. "Wanna see?"

Jamie does, actually. Adam scoots back over to his desk and places the control down, turning the desk lamp on so Jamie can see it more clearly. Jamie leans over his shoulder, peering at it while Adam takes it apart with impressive celerity. He points out the little bits and pieces, explaining them animatedly. The system makes a lot of sense, and it looks useful. Most tournaments would probably outright ban Team Savage from actually using it, but it's intriguing. Jamie finds a newfound respect for Adam and his teammates. 

Adam's looking up at him, searching for his reaction. Jamie thinks for a few seconds and finally allows himself to smile, just the slightest. "That's cool." 

Adam looks so delighted Jamie nearly laughs. He claps his hands happily like a kid. "It is, right?"

"Why would you tell me about this? I mean, wouldn't it be smarter to keep Buster's weapons a secret?"

"I guess," Adam replies good-naturedly. "But I'm not using  _this_ weapon in this championship, and probably rarely will, if ever. And I didn't think someone who's won twice on his own merit would stoop to stealing an idea from a first-time participant. Plus..." Adam shoots him a sly glance, smirking. "It's not as if I told you  _everything._ I'd like to watch you duplicate the firing mechanism in your battlebot - Sparky, right? - without clear instructions and risk messing up everything else that's worked for you." 

Against his better judgment, Jamie's lips quirk up into a smile again. Adam Savage is interesting, he realises - annoying, certainly, but interesting, and surprising, and shaping up to be a worthy opponent. "Well, I hope we get to go up against Buster in the finals, then."

Adam nods, still beaming. "May the best team win." 

 

 

After that belated breaking of the ice, tensions are a little less strained. Adam even introduces his teammates to Jamie properly - Tory is a bit of a daredevil, good with his hands, and Grant loves electronics and robotics. In return, Jamie does the same - Kari and Scottie immediately click with both of them. In fact, they become such fast friends that the next time Jamie walks into Kari and Scottie's room, they're seated on the floor, apart - thank goodness for that, because Jamie can't help an involuntary shudder as he recalls what happened the  _last_ time he did that - and they're chatting animatedly to Tory and Grant in the fashion of people who've been friends for years. Kari looks up to see Jamie and quickly nudges Tory in the ribs. Tory catches on and abruptly stops talking. They all have shockingly put-on smiles on their faces when they greet Jamie. "Hey, Jamie!"

Jamie stares hard at them; he could have  _sworn_ he heard his name come out of Tory's mouth. "Were you guys just talking about me?"

Grant's eyes go comically wide. "You? Of course not! Whatever gave you that idea?" 

Hmm. It's very suspicious. Grant's obviously lying. Still, there's no point pushing him, and Jamie honestly can't be bothered with gossip. There are better things to do. "Okay, whatever. Scottie, I need help with some welding. Can you come down to the shop with me?"

"Sure!" She gets up to follow him, and just like that, Jamie puts the incident out of his mind - after all, it's just a negligible blip in what is becoming an increasingly more enjoyable week. Adam becomes more agreeable, and Jamie can even stand to work in the same room as him. Since Tory, Grant, Kari and Scottie get along so well - and after all, they're the only San Franciscans in the whole competition - both teams end up eating together during mealtimes, sitting in the common room together during pockets of free time, and once, the six of them even attend a workshop together. 

All in all, it's a nice truce. Jamie even thinks he could get used to it. 

 

 

The results of the knockouts come out exactly a week before the final match, where two teams will compete for the 3rd-4th placings and another two will compete for the title of champions. All the teams are called to the hall, and a Beyond rep reads out a list of team names - the teams that aren't called will be leaving the competition and going home. They're announced in alphabetical order, by school, so Jamie knows that if by some chance, they don't get in, at least they won't have to undergo the torturous process of waiting. Beside him, Kari and Scottie cross their fingers.

The first two schools are rattled off, and then - 

"From Artarmon High, San Francisco, California, Team Helios."

"Yes!" Scottie hisses under her breath, and sweeps Kari into a celebratory kiss that Kari eagerly returns. "Six years running!" 

"Let's see if Adam's team gets in!" Kari says breathlessly. 

Sure enough, a minute later Team Savage gets announced. From somewhere in the back row there's a whoop of victory that Jamie recognises to be Tory's. He leans back in his chair, cogs turning in his mind.

All right, now it's down to the wire. Close to a thousand teams applied, just over a hundred were flown into Boston for the knockouts, and now there are just forty to be eliminated day by day until there are just four left, three of which will get a podium finish. Jamie's certain that Team Helios is going to be one of them. 

Adam, Tory and Grant meet up with Jamie, Scottie and Kari after the announcement. "Good job, guys!" Adam cheers. "Now it's time to get serious - no more screwing around, we're in this to win it."

"Don't need you to tell us that, Adam," Jamie deadpans, but he's smiling. Kari looks thrilled. "You know, if we both end up on the podium, that'll be a double victory for Cali - and San Francisco! I really think we can do it."

"To work, then! To infinity and beyond!"

 

 

Jamie spends the afternoon taking Sparky apart and struggling to replace part of its clamp arm that's gotten a bit banged up during the knockout rounds. It just doesn't seem to be going on as securely as he'd like, and he's frustrated enough that he's tempted to just scrap the entire original arm and replace it with their backup. 

Adam comes into the room just in time to see Jamie toss a screwdriver at the wall in irritation. "Woah, woah, what's wrong?" He asks, putting his can of root beer on the table and plopping into the empty chair beside Jamie's. "Having trouble?"

For a moment, Jamie wavers - he's not exactly certain he wants to reveal anything about Sparky to Adam. But another look at the genuine concern on Adam's face, and he recalls how Adam willingly shared about the remote firing mechanism; Jamie sighs and reveals Sparky's clamp arm. "Can't seem to fix the clamp arm proper. The screws just don't seem to be going in right."

Adam studies the arm. "Have you tried welding the parts together?"

Jamie shakes his head. "Scottie insisted the parts be separable so we wouldn't have to replace the entire arm whenever a section got messed up, and it gives us the benefit of maneuverability too. I agreed with her."

Another quick poke at the arm, and Adam makes a sound of understanding. "Jamie, you're using the wrong size screws. Close, but not the best size. I think I've got a couple of the kind you need." He darts over to his suitcase and digs around in a plastic bag, pulling out some screws and dropping them into Jamie's hand. "Try these."

It's no surprise that they fit like a dream. Jamie tests the arm out; it works perfectly. "Thanks a lot, Adam. I really appreciate it."

"It was nothing." 

Jamie looks up at Adam's flushed face and pleased expression, and softens. In this moment, it just feels like nothing can go wrong. 

 

 

Of course, he speaks too soon.

The very next day, he accidentally spills coffee on Adam's schematics - a brand new plan to replace one of Buster's saws with a drill. He must catch Adam at a pretty bad time, because before he can even begin to apologise, Adam drops the box of nuts and bolts he's holding and all but blows up, going off at Jamie. He's so accusatory and absolutely furious that it gets Jamie on edge, so when Adam treads on Sparky's backup clamp arm and shatters it, he ends up screaming at Adam and accuses him of taking revenge in an incredibly petty, childish manner. In hindsight, it's almost definitely an accident too, which explains why Adam gets so insulted that he just flat-out decides to stop speaking to Jamie. After he finally cools down, Jamie considers just apologising to Adam and clearing the air, but when he approaches Adam, the other boy gets up and actually leaves the cafeteria in the other direction. It annoys Jamie so much he decides then and there not to bother - if Adam's going to sulk for the rest of the week, he can do that. 

Twelve hours of stony silence later, Jamie realises they've re-entered into a cold war. 

Funnily enough, it's not a nice feeling. 

 

 

The next few days before the finals are a whirlwind of activity - every day, they wake up, congregate as a team, attend the semifinal rounds, compete against a few teams, spend the afternoon working on improvements and modifications, then anxiously check the noticeboard in the hall every evening to see who's been eliminated. It's busy and tiring, but Jamie isn't so distracted he doesn't notice the tension that has re-established itself in 2-82, settling over them like a heavy blanket. 

Adam hasn't spoken to him in days. It gets to the point where he's so  _done_ that Jamie approaches Mr Lee to ask if he can possibly switch rooms with someone else. Mr Lee looks at him so disapprovingly Jamie feels embarrassed. "Come on, Mr Hyneman - there are three days left to the competition, and you aren't a child. I think you can survive three more days without running away from a problem as simple as a roommate who's not very happy with you. What is that the kids say? 'Suck it up' - ah, yes, that's it exactly." 

Jamie thinks of Adam's silence and sighs. "Yes, Mr Lee." 

 

 

Two days before the final match, both Team Savage and Team Helios win their final semis and are slated to go up against each other for the championship trophy. It makes Beyond Battlebot Championship history - it's the first time in forty-four tournaments that two teams from the same city are competing against each other in the very last match. The only other Californian team didn't make it through the semis, which means it's all up to them - either of them. 

Jamie's worried, despite sailing to the finals. Sparky just doesn't seem to be at its best after the knockouts, and try as he might, he just can't seem to put his finger on why exactly it doesn't seem to be a championship-worthy battlebot at the moment. Now that he and Adam aren't on good terms anymore - back to square one, it seems - he's determined. They  _need_ to win and beat Team Savage. He's just not confident that Sparky can beat out Buster by a fair margin, and as the hours tick by, he becomes more frantic. 

What's wrong with Sparky? The motor is in tip-top shape, their saws and clamp arm have been checked and re-checked, Kari's been conducting a full range-of-motion test run every night, everything is fine, and their winning formula is in place. Jamie just can't  _figure it out._

 

 

The penultimate day before the finals is reserved for a day-long showcase, open to the public. The top forty teams get to showcase their battlebots in the Rees-Joseph auditorium and a whole bunch of other elementary, middle and high schools, not to mention a lot of the curious general public, get to come in and watch demonstrations and exhibition matches, listen to talks and there are even special kids' robotics workshops. Jamie's informed that Team Helios and Team Savage will be operating two basic Beyond build-it-yourself battlebots for a few exhibition matches. It's a win-win; they get a better sense of each other's dynamics before the finals without risking last-minute damage to their competing battlebots, and Beyond gets to advertise their own battlebots. 

It isn't until the exhibition match actually begins that Beyond realises they made a bit of a mistake. Namely, Adam and Jamie take their mutual anger and annoyance out on the battlebots in the ring, and go at each other so violently that they nearly destroy the bots. At one point, Kari almost snatches the controls out of Jamie's hands in order to keep the fight from spiralling into disaster. 

It's pretty ridiculous. By the end of the first match, Jamie spots some Beyond reps giving each other worried looks. They break for a snack, and Scottie and Kari drag Jamie to the side and Scottie glares him down unflinchingly. "Jamie, seriously, I don't know what happened between you and Adam over the last week, but snap the fuck out of it, man. Whatever comes out of this feud between you two, it's  _not_ going to be good, I can promise you that."

Kari's expression and tone is softer, more pensive, more thoughtful. "I don't think this is worth ruining a friendship for, Jamie."

Jamie snorts, folding his arms across his chest. "Evidently, we weren't friends, since our relations could be so easily severed." 

The girls exchange cryptic glances, and Jamie just catches Kari's minute shrug. Scottie shakes her head. "Mark my words. This is going to end badly, unless you just put aside your ego and make up." 

It grates on Jamie's nerves. "Look, friends or not, we're going up against Team Savage in the  _championship ring_ tomorrow, and Sparky still isn't at its 100%. Could we please just focus on that?"

That glance again. Scottie sighs. "Fine, whatever - your loss. Let's get back to the showcase."

 

 

Kari and Scottie are atypically taciturn that evening, but Jamie doesn't notice, too caught up in Sparky to consider. After setting Sparky up on its table in the auditorium, all ready for more visitors to coo over it the next morning before the final match, he returns to his room and thinks for hours, ignoring Adam doing about the same thing in his side of the room, and lies in bed staring up at the roof wracking his brains.

At midnight, insight finally dawns. The treads. Jamie's seen Team Savage's battlebot in action, and Buster is  _fast_ \- Buster moves quickly, turns quickly, can spin on a dime. On the other hand, Team Helios' combination of clamp and saws means that they've always chosen stability over speed, so they've always stuck to treads. But Buster isn't just fast and easily manoeuvrable, it's light. In a pinch, it's not going to have the power to use Sparky's clamp against it and turn it over into its most vulnerable position. If they can match Buster for speed, they're stronger - deadlier.  _They can win._

Jamie sits up in bed, heart pounding. Teams aren't allowed to modify their battlebots within six hours of the final tournament, but it's at ten in the morning - it's twelve now, and he shouldn't be out of his dorm, let alone in the auditorium, but he's still within the time limit. His mind works furiously. The auditorium is just across Block A; he just has to cut across the courtyard, get inside, get the treads off and leave. It'll take fifteen minutes, tops. Who'll notice? 

Creeping out of bed silently so as not to jolt Adam awake, Jamie slips into his shoes, gets his keycard and tools, and steals out of the room.

 

 

Getting out of the dorm is easy enough - for safety's sake, it's well-lit, even at the unguarded rear exit; Jamie sneaks out, rounds the building and keeps to the shadows, inching across the courtyard. It's easy enough, and when his progress isn't impeded all the way up to the double doors of the auditorium, Jamie feels more confident. He pushes against the doors.

They don't open.

Feeling a bolt of panic, he gives them another quick push. They refuse to budge. With a sinking feeling of utter dread, Jamie realises they're  _locked. Of course,_ he thinks despairingly. The campus is well-guarded, but Beyond would never be so stupid as to put prizewinning battlebots in an unlocked auditorium overnight. 

He can't pick the lock - it's electromagnetic and requires a Beyond rep's keycard to unlock from the outside. Jamie briefly considers breaking in through the windows, but they've got bars on the inside and they're bolted, and the risk of breaking the glass and having someone hear him is too dangerous and outweighs the benefits. He tries to quell the alarm threatening to overwhelm him. He's  _got_ to do this. 

And that's when he remembers - the skylight above the auditorium. That'll be locked too, but it won't be electromagnetically secured; he remembers it's a normal lock-and-key type of thing. He can pick that easily, and he'll have a way in. He's pretty sure there's a switch he can hit to unlock the door from the inside without a keycard, so he's got an exit, too.

The only problem is how he'll get  _into_ the auditorium after picking the lock. The skylight's in the middle of the auditorium, with no convenient pillars or anything right underneath; he'll have to find some way to drop in safely. 

Well. No time to worry about that. Jamie climbs up the fire escape on the exterior of the building and easily gets onto the rooftop. Sorting through the tools in his pocket, he retrieves his screwdriver and kneels to take the lock in his hand. 

That's when someone grabs his shoulder and Jamie quite nearly screams in sheer terror. He turns back so fast he's sure he cricked something in his neck and flails out in the direction of the hand on his shoulder. Someone's standing over him, face shadowed.

It takes Jamie a moment, but then he realises who it is. 

"Adam?" 

Adam moves a step forward and the moon illuminates half of his frame. Jamie sees the fury in his expression. "Of all the low-down, dirty tricks - I saw you sneaking out of the room and followed and - were you going to  _cheat?_ "

Jamie feels his temper flare. "I'm well within the six-hour limit. It's not cheating if I modify Sparky  _before_ the block-off time period."

"Yeah, right," Adam scoffs. "Come off it, Jamie. You aren't here to modify Sparky, are you? You're here to sabotage Buster!"

Adam looks so certain and disgusted that Jamie has to laugh. "Seriously?Come on, Adam. You said it yourself - you said I wouldn't steal an idea from a first-time participant. What makes you think I would sabotage Buster, then?" 

"Maybe I was wrong about you! You seemed pretty willing to destroy the only copy of my blueprint for Buster's drill!" 

"That was an  _accident!_ You would've known that if you had just listened to my explanation." 

"That didn't stop you from flipping out when I stepped on Sparky's clamp arm  _by accident_ too!" 

Adam's storming around the roof and flailing and gesturing and all of a sudden, a train of thought runs through Jamie's head, quick as a flash -

  * Adam's far too close to the skylight.
  * The skylight isn't very strong or durable.
  * Adam's not looking where he's going.
  * His next step is going to take him  _right on top of the skylight._
  * The glass is going to break.
  * He's going to fall two storeys into the auditorium. 



Adam's still ranting on, and Jamie interrupts with a forceful  _Adam!,_ and Adam puts his foot through the skylight. The glass seems to splinter beneath him, and Jamie acts on pure instinct, lunging forward to grab Adam and pull him back before he falls through. 

This backfires spectacularly. Adam's weight and Jamie's iron grip on his arm only serves to drag both of them down through the giant hole in the roof. There's no time to even try for a softer landing. Jamie feels himself crash through something, then lands hard on the floor of the auditorium. Pain slices through every single nerve ending in his body for a single second, then nothing. He's totally numb. At the back of his mind, where he retains some rational thought, Jamie realises he's probably going into shock, but the most primal part of him that's taking over just feels absolutely nothing. 

The only thing that grounds him is Adam's voice, faint and a little stunned, that comes out of nowhere from somewhere in the pitch blackness. 

"Jamie?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I broke my arm."

"Yeah."

"You too?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah," Adam replies, and that's about when they both pass out. 

 

 

When Jamie next opens his eyes, the first thing he thinks is -

_wow, I'm alive._

The next - 

_is that the sun?_

After that - 

_where's Adam?_

He doesn't have time to think of anything else, because Mr Lee crowds his field of vision looking enraged and relieved and terrified all at once. 

"JAMIE HYNEMAN!"  _Wow,_ that's loud. Jamie winces at the sheer volume. "Mr Savage here as told me everything. What on earth were you  _thinking?!_ Leaving your room in the middle of the night, climbing to the roof of the auditorium and trying to  _break into the auditorium_ and - and what? And what? Both of you! Of all the most harebrained, ridiculous,  _stupid_ things to..." Mr Lee trails off, sputtering, speechless. Someone else takes over. "We've called your parents and reassured them that you're alive, if nursing serious injuries, and I daresay they will have a lot to say to both of you once you get home. All I can say is I'm glad we're packing you off tomorrow."

Hmm. That voice is unfamiliar. Jamie blinks a couple of times as he tries to figure out where it's coming from, then turns to the right to see Adam lying in a hospital bed next to him, with what looks like his teacher in charge standing over him. He vaguely recalls the name Haven from the first time the both of them met. Haven looks less concerned, more annoyed. Jamie has to say, he can't blame him. 

"How... competition?" Jamie hears Adam whisper. 

Haven shakes his head. "Obviously, you are unfit for the tournament. Fortunately for you, and unfortunately for them, your teammates have been informed of the idiocy you have gotten yourselves into. They will represent both of your teams at the tournament while you rest here and hopefully reflect upon your behaviour, which has been abysmal." He checks his watch. "Mr Lee and I will have to return to Rees-Joseph to oversee the competition with the other teachers and Beyond, but we will be back this evening to check on you. I trust you won't get into any more trouble while we are away?" 

"Yes, sir," Adam and Jamie chorus. 

The moment they leave, Adam starts laughing. "Oh man, Jamie."

"Oh man is right," Jamie answers drowsily, and falls back asleep.

 

 

Jamie wakes up again at about eleven to the sound of Adam humming tunelessly on his bed. When Jamie stirs, he looks over. "Jamie! Welcome back to the land of the living. The finals are going on right now."

"Oh." Jamie feels disappointment wash over him - he's just beginning to realise how idiotic he was the night before. "Adam, we should be there."

"You're telling me," Adam snorts. "Hey, can I tell you something?"

Jamie tries to lift his hand to make a go-ahead movement, feels pain shoot up his shoulder and thinks better of it. Adam goes on anyway. "I didn't actually follow you out of the room. I was planning to modify Buster because I thought of a last-minute improvement, so I snuck out of my own accord. I didn't even realise you'd left."

Jamie takes a moment to process this. "So basically we were both there for the same reason."

"Exactly!" He laughs. "I'm sorry. I let my anger get the better of me and accused you of trying to sabotage Buster, and then I dragged you down with me and now we're both in the hospital when we should be with our teams."

"Well, I guess we're both equally to blame, in some sense," Jamie reasons. It's been a ridiculous two weeks, now that he really thinks hard on them. It might be better to just erase it from his memory in the grand scheme of things. "Truce?"

Adam shakes his head. "Friends?" 

"Friends," Jamie agrees, and that feels a lot better than  _truce._ Adam looks happy, reassured, grateful even. He lies back against the pillows, stretching out. "Now that's settled, I wonder how our teams are doing?"

 

 

The boys end up talking nineteen to the dozen about the championship until lunch is served, and Jamie's in the process of unwrapping the foil on his cup of fruit when a FaceTime call comes in. He glances at the screen, and calls out to Adam. "Scottie's calling. She wants to FaceTime us." 

Adam leans over, looking eager despite the massive cut on his forehead and his broken arm. Jamie answers the call and the blurry image of Scottie appears on the screen. Her words come out distorted and slowed, but comprehensible. "Hi, guys. Lee and Haven told us everything. You're dumb as fuck."

"Thanks, Scottie. That's real nice of you to say. How's the competition going?" 

"Tournament's over. They just gave out all the trophies."

Jamie shoots Adam a quick glance, one he returns. "Well, don't leave us in suspense! Who won? Team Savage or Team Helios?"

Scottie snorts. "Neither. California got disqualified from the competition."

 _"WHAT?!"_ Adam grabs the phone from Jamie, looking horrified. "Oh my god, is it because of what Jamie and I did? Actually, it was mostly me, but you get what I mean. Wait, did Beyond actually disqualify us for destruction of property or something? I'll go there _right now_ and beg forgiveness, I'll do anything, I'll - "

"Adam! Shut up! No, the big guys in charge didn't disqualify us because of what you did - they actually found it pretty hilarious and assured Mr Lee and Mr Haven that nobody would press charges. They disqualified us because we didn't have a battlebot to enter into the ring. When you two fell into the auditorium last night, you fell through the table they set up for our bots. They toppled down three feet and pretty much smashed to pieces on the floor. In accordance with the rulebook, there was no way either of our teams could fix them up in time to enter them for the competition. Exit Buster  _and_ Sparky. The two teams that were supposed to compete for third and fourth placing were bumped up to compete for champion and first runner-up, and the two teams that narrowly lost out got to fight it out for a podium finish. We had to watch the Rhode Island team - you know, Christine, Jessie and Jessi - trash their opponent and steal the show, all while knowing  _either_ of us could have beaten them easy and gone home with the trophy instead." They can see Scottie rolling her eyes on-screen. "Jamie, Kari shares my sentiments about you being a dumbass and she's hurt that you didn't consult us before going on your midnight adventure. Adam, Grant sends his regards but says you're a fucking moron. Tory isn't speaking to you."

"I guess I deserve that," Jamie shrugs, a rueful grin on his face, and Adam laughs. "Yeah, in hindsight, if Tory had destroyed Buster because he fell two storeys into the auditorium, I would probably never have spoken to him again either."

Scottie clicks her tongue in exasperation. "There's a massive buffet for all the participants now the ceremony's over. The teachers said we could come visit you guys after we've had a proper lunch. I'm going off to join Kari. We'll see you later!"

"See you," Adam and Jamie chorus as Scottie cuts the call, looking glumly down at the unappetising tray of hospital fare. "God, Jamie, are we stupid, or stupid?"

Jamie pretends to ponder the question for a while. "I think stupid."

The way Adam just chuckles good-humouredly at his response inexplicably warms Jamie to the core. "Yeah, I thought so." He pauses for a while, leaving the room silent, before he turns and swings his legs over the side of his bed. "So, Team Savage's going to need a new battlebot." 

"Yeah."

Adam looks up at Jamie, proper, holding his gaze. It's softer than Jamie's ever seen it. "We have one more year before we're no longer eligible to participate in the competition, and... I was thinking Savage and Helios would make a pretty formidable team if we worked together." He sounds cautious -  _that's_ new - a little hesitant, and Jamie might be imagining it, but he thinks he hears more of a question in that than just teaming up. 

Well, it wouldn't be the craziest thing to have happened in the past two weeks - the fact that he's lying in a Boston hospital bed with a greenstick fracture and ten stitches in his thigh is clear testament to that. Jamie gives Adam a quick smile. "I'd like that." 

 

 

It ends pretty much the same way it began - with a five hour plane ride, Kari glued to the entertainment system, with Scottie looking out of the window, and Adam's snoring in his seat - but this time, he's got his arm in a sling, a bandage on his head, and Jamie's sitting beside him. 

They're going home trophy-less, with the pieces of what was previously Sparky and Buster packed into a box, and Jamie's reasonably sure his parents are going to ground him for a year when he gets back, but somehow, he doesn't feel like a complete failure after all. The championship hasn't turned out the least like he expected, but it feels pretty rewarding anyhow. It's practically unbelievable. 

He must say that out loud without realising it, because Adam stirs from beside him and looks up at him with a sleepy smile, curling his fingers in Jamie's and resting his head on Jamie's shoulder. He pats Jamie once on the knee and falls asleep almost instantly once more, but Jamie catches what he says right before he drops off.

_"Believe it."_

**Author's Note:**

> disclaimers:
> 
> i don't own beyond or mythbusters or science, etc. i don't know any of the hosts personally. i don't profit from this fic; it's just for fun. this fic isn't meant to be in character or to represent anything happening in real life or whatever. no insinuations or disrespect meant towards any of the hosts/mythterns. 
> 
> everything i've written in this fic is FICTIONAL. i know next to nothing about san francisco, boston, battlebots, ammo, breaking and entering etc. so some of what i write about is probably going to be vastly inaccurate. 
> 
> please for the love of god don't come to the comments section going off about how rpf is Disrespectful and Gross and Wrong and Weird unless you intend to comment the exact same thing on every single phan and one direction and hockey fic that exists on this site. it's just annoying.


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